Unravelling
by StellatheAlchemist
Summary: The universe is coming apart. It's up to a madman with a blue box, two orphaned teenage alchemists, a noble street rat, and a pacifist with identity issues to fix it. Can they do it, without arguing/childhood trauma/romance/cute animals/food getting in the way? ((Multi-universe collab crossover. T for language, violence and dark themes. Eventual pairings.))


**((This is a crossover that was written as a collab between me and my lovely wife (Who by the way writes some excellent fanficiton which you can read here: u/4317419/TheRangress) for NaNoWriMo 2012. It's actually still going, but the main plot is over and it will likely end soon... Or not... Anyway, it was done in RP format and edited together by me. **

**And yes, it contains OCs. But before you leave, just listen. They're not the usual crappy fancharacters. They're not even from FMA. They're from their own universes, novels written by Fanta, and are only here because it's a crossover. They are very well-developed and have actual backstories. Trust me, I usually hate OCs, but I love these guys. So just give it a chance, ok? :3))**

Kestrel Archer was crying.

She sat in Martha, the oak tree, and cried. Life just... sucked. She could end it. That would be nice. She hopped down and wiped her face with her sleeve.

She stared at herself in the lake. Tall, skinny... She brushed her bangs to the right side absently. She was rather particular about her bangs. She ran her fingers through the few remaining centimeters of black hair in the back. She really looked like a boy... Her life was a living hell, she was a worthless overemotional amoral bitch... and she was thinking about how much she looked like a boy. She sighed and tried to redirect her thoughts back to her reflection. She really didn't want to have to deal with this anymore.

If you want to stop it, kill yourself. You want it to end... coward.

Nose, still big. Still very broken. Face, still long and angular. Eyes... blue.

She sighed and started walking. Just walking. Trying to ignore the thoughts... the truth. How much her life sucked. How things would never get better. How she was worthless.

She wiped her face again. Crying was weak. She needed to stop crying. She kept walking. Running away? Was she running away?

She didn't know. She didn't know if she'd kill herself at some point, she didn't know what she was doing, she just didn't know.

She sighed and sat down to cry some more. She just wanted her daddy. Someone. Like a normal person. Just not to be alone. That was all she wanted.

Being loved and wanted. Most people were loved and wanted by at least one person. She just wanted one person. Someone that she meant something to.

But she didn't deserve that, did she? Bitch. Worthless, overemotional, useless, amoral, self-centered, useless, girly, stupid, whiny... Sob.

She just... she couldn't finish a thought unless it was hating herself. She didn't deserve this. Did she?

Was she insane? What was the truth; overemotional dog or lonely broken girl? Both? Neither?

She just wanted to know. She wanted to be loved, and she wanted to know who she was. What was wrong with that? Why was she alone and so... confused? Why?

She wasn't whiny. She wasn't. She really wasn't. She was just so confused, trying to fight something so much stronger than her...

She'd been fighting all her life. Why couldn't she fight this? Maybe death would just be easier...

She fiercely wiped her face off again. Stop crying. Maybe she wasn't strong enough to win, but she was strong enough to stop crying. Yes, she was.

She looked up and realized two things. One, she wasn't in Rowanwood; and two, she was sitting right in front of a mysterious blue box.

The blue box opened up, and out came a man. A fairly young, good-looking man, with very modern and sticky-uppy hair, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a blue suit with brick red pinstripes, a tie of the same shade of red, and a brown leather jacket. He was staring at a small thing in his hand which looked rather like a cross between a flashlight and a toothbrush, and was making a very strange noise. Kestrel stared at the man, said a rather bad word, stood up, and crossed her arms. She attempted to look as if she hadn't been sobbing unconsolably.

"Yes, that's lovely," the man said, clearly not paying attention. He was quite focused on his little flashlight.

"...I suppose it is." She glared in an attempt to look badass. "Who are _you?_"

He looked up.

"Sorry, what?"

She made a face.  
"I _said_, 'Who are _you_?'!"

"I'm The Doctor. What's your name?"  
He offered his hand, not entirely sure if handshakes were the customary greeting, but assuming it was a good thing to do, since she looked human.

"I'm the Duchess." She kept her arms crossed.

"Nice to meet you. Mind telling me what planet this is?" he asked, still waving the flashlight around.

"...plan... Oh, you're a lunatic." She paused. "Though... wait..." She looked around. "...Maybe I don't know either. Assuming you're not insane. I think you are."

"Probably. What year is it?"

"1940."

"1940! Wonderful year! Lots of fun!" He spun around in a circle excitedly. "Except, you know, the war and whatnot. Anyway, is this Earth?"

"...Since there isn't a war, I'll say no..." She bent down and picked up a handful of dirt. "This is earth, though..."

"What country? Is this Lichtenstein? I love Lichtenstein. It's so cute."

"...Yeah, you're insane. This WAS Rowanwood... I don't think it is anymore."

"...Are you SURE it's 1940?" he asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you, it's 1940 unless I've time-travelled!"

The Doctor paused for a moment, thinking.

"...I'll be right back," he announced, and ran inside the blue box.

Kestrel went after him.

It was bigger on the inside.

The Doctor was digging through a storage chest, looking for something.

"No. No. No." He tossed various... things out of his way; literally, he tossed them, like something from a cartoon.

"No, no... Why is this even here?" Toss.

"No. Ah!" He pulled out a mysterious device that looked like a cross between an antique telephone, a microwave, and a slinky. "Just what I was looking for."

Kestrel paused.

She poked her head out and back in. Out, in. Out, in.

"...You broke the laws of physics. OK. Not insane. Time-traveller? Alien?"

"Both, actually," he replied casually, and stepped out of the box again. As soon as he did, the device started dinging. Repeatedly.

"Well, that answers that question," he said, rather suprised.

"And the question would be?"

"Too complicated to explain." He pulled out a pair of 3D glasses, the kind with the red and blue lenses, and put them on. He frowned and made a thinking face, puzzled.

"Try. I'd like to know what's going on too."

"...Do you understand quantum physics?"

"Never heard of it. I understand most physics, though."

He paused, trying to think of a good way to explain it.

"...The world's gone all wibbly-wobbly, and this thing here..." he patted the phone-slinky... "...Tells me that there's stuff. The glasses are for seeing the stuff, and woah, it is EVERYWHERE!" He spun in a circle again.

"Do they only work because you're an alien?" She thought that was a very bad and extremely dumbed-down explanation from someone who didn't properly understand it at all. But she had an idea. She'd read several cheap science-fiction novels in her time.

"Nope! They work just fine for everyone. Assuming you know how to use them."

He put the glasses away.

She took them and put them on. Kleptomaniac.

Aravis el'Shara was lonely.

She walked alone through her garden, except for the sleek gray cat at her side. She was not quite paying attention to her surroundings. She was just walking.

She was really, truly alone. Before, she had Avatre... not after the Chimera Incident.. Everything was different now. So little had changed, and yet...

She was different. Somehow. She didn't know how. But... something had changed. She didn't like it. She still had some memories of Sinarra's, and vivid memories of the Chimera Incident.

Before the Chimera Incident, things blurred and faded. Was she even still Aravis? Was she something entirely different? Something. Not human...

What had happened to her was unique. A unique violation of her identity, never to be repeated. The world had no concept of her, and she did not want it to have an opportunity to learn what she was. This should be an aberration, completely unique in every way; and unknown, because if it was known, it might be attempted again.

The world would never see another chimera if she could help it. Did that make her a monster? Or had monstrous things merely been done to her? She didn't know.

She was alone, unique... was she Aravis? Was she human? She needed to know. She stared at her hand and could almost imagine claws. Occasionally, she turned to see her tail; she didn't have a tail!

Where was the science to explain what she was? She would have to keep researching... But she could never let there be any research into chimeras. Ever. She had destroyed all her notes, and with guilt she had published falsified data proving her hypothesis false.

She could not let herself assume the world was as idealistic and kind as herself.. The world was full of people who did not understand. She did not matter. She understood the world now, and she would work tirelessly to make the world the place it was meant to be.

Was she Aravis? Was she human? Did it matter? No. Because she was going to make the world better. She was going to fix the world. She had her ideals, and she would hold to them. She had changed, yes... but she was still a sworn idealistic and alchemist, and now she was no longer naive.

Yes. Human or not, Aravis or not, she was a good person. She knelt down and pet the cat with a smile. Yes. She could not afford to indulge herself in foolish doubts. She had a world to fix.

When she stood up, her smile faded. She wasn't in her garden. Slowly, she walked over to a mysterious blue box...

The blue box opened up.

Kestrel was standing there, looking at things with the 3-D glasses.

"So... interdimensional travel?" she suggested.

Aravis stared.

She slowly walked around the blue box.

"...It..."

"Breaks the laws of physics. He's a time-travelling alien who won't give his name." Kestrel was expecting an inane comment and nipped it in the bud.

"Yes, yes, and I told you already, my name is The Doctor."

The phone-slinky continued dinging.

"OK then, The Dumbass."

Aravis was astonished.

"Interdimensional travel. If you freak out, I will hit you," Kestrel explained.

"No, it's The Doctor, and you will NOT be hitting anyone as long as I'm here," he said firmly.

Kestrel hit the Doctor.

"I don't take orders from dumbasses."

The Doctor made an astonished face. Kestrel smirked.

Aravis stared.

"...Explain."

"You, missy," The Doctor said, pointing to Kestrel, "Need a time out."

"Kestrel Archer, Duchess of Rowanwood, Lieutenant of the Alminainian Confederate Air Force," she smugly smirked and saluted, "_not_ at your service. Not 'missy', either."

"Ex-excuse me?" Aravis asked.

"I don't care about any military or whatever, you are getting a time out," he insisted, crossing his arms stubbornly and ignoring Aravis.

"Yes, time OUT of my dimension!"

"Excuse me?" Aravis asked again nicely and quietly and politely.

"Get in the TARDIS. Now."

"You can't make me!"

"EXCUSE ME?!" snapped an angry Aravis.

"Yes?" The Doctor turned to Aravis and smiled politely, stepping on Ketrel's foot.

Kestrel stomped the Doctor's foot back.

"What is going on?" Aravis asked nicely, now attention had been gained.

"Well, Miss I'm-A-Fancy-Wancy-Duchess here slapped me and now deserves a time out," he explained.

"Oh, I've killed people, but I slap a time-travelling alien and now I need a time-out?" Kestrel said sarcastically.

"Not that!" Aravis corrected. "The... blue..."

"Oh, don't say it..."

"...it's bigger on the inside..."

"Yes, we can see that!" Kestrel was losing her patience.

"Yes it is. It's called a TARDIS, goes vworp vworp, has a swimming pool, and MISS FANCY-WANCY DUCHESS IS GOING TO GET INSIDE IT RIGHT NOW," The Doctor said sternly, glaring at Kestrel.

"...How?"

"No, I'm not!" Kestrel punched the Doctor, fully intending to break his nose. Aravis was horrified. The Doctor grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her into the TARDIS. Unfortunately for him, she didn't have much hair, which made getting away from him easier.

"YOU ARE A VERY MEAN, NAUGHTY LITTLE GIRL AND YOU WILL NOT BE GETTING ANY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS," The Doctor shouted, having given up on putting her in time out.

"I DON'T CARE!" Kestrel yelled back.

Aravis paused, and assumed Kessy was the Doctor's daughter.

"KENNY LOGGINS CAN HEAR YOU!"

The Doctor was very much acting like a child.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO THAT IS!"

Kestrel was acting like a teenager, which she was.

"WELL HE CAN HEAR YOU! SO THERE!"

"WELL, F*** KENNY LOGGINS!"

Aravis was a bit shocked. The Doctor gasped in horror.

Kestrel punched the Doctor. Again.

The Doctor went inside the TARDIS and slammed the door. Aravis went after the Doctor.

Kestrel sat on the ground and sulked.

Edward Elric was walking around Central while reading a book, despite his younger (and far more mature) brother repeatedly warning him that walking while reading was dangerous. He turned the page, and walked straight into a large blue box.

"Ow! What the hell?! Who puts a freaking phone booth in the middle of the sidewalk?!" he shouted, kicking the box.

"There's no phone booth in the middle of the sidewalk," said Kestrel, grumpily, "In there is a time-travelling insane alien who apparently has a ginormous problem with violence. And it's bigger on the inside." She glared.

"WELL ALIENS SHOULDN'T PARK THEIR DAMN PHONE BOOTHS WHERE PEOPLE WALK!"

"Well, you should look where you're walking."

"She's got a point, you know," Al pointed out. "You wouldn't have walked into it if you had been looking where you were going."

"Oh, shut up!" Ed snapped.

"So, apparently we've travelled between dimensions. Don't say that's impossible." Kestrel was still wearing the 3-D glasses.

"Do I LOOK like an astrophysicist to you?" Ed snapped.

"No, you look short."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE HAS AN ATOMIC NUMBER OF NEGATIVE 10?!"

Al facepalmed.

"Nobody. I'm calling YOU short," Kestrel replied.

Aravis was getting impatient. Ed slapped Kestrel.

She punched him.

"Careful, the Dumbass will give you a time-out."

Ed punched her back. Al uselessly attempted to stop them from fighting.

Aravis was staring at the TARDIS.

"...Would you please explain this?"

The Doctor, who was busy pouting, ignored her.

"...will you please explain?"

The Doctor was eating a banana and glaring at the TARDIS console.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"What is going on!?"

"Miss Fancy-Wancy Duchess is being a meanie, that's what."

"No, about the... dimension... inside... bigger... outside... The laws of physics..." Aravis was very scientific.

"Oh, that? The universe seems to be falling apart."

Aravis stared. The Doctor casually ate his banana.

"...really?"

"Yes."

"..."

Aravis went outside to be nauseous.

Kestrel was still being violent. And wearing 3-D glasses. Al was still making futile attempts to keep Ed and Kestrel from killing each other.

"WHY THE HELL ARE WE DOING THIS!?"

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW!"

"Because you're idiots?" Al suggested.

"SHUT UP!"

"THE UNIVERSE IS FALLING APART AND YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR NO REASON!" Aravis interrupted.

Kestrel swore loudly. Ed was confused.

Aravis was nauseous and confused.

"...You ask the Dumbass. I'm not going in there." Kestrel was adamant on not getting that time-out.

"Fine! I will!" Ed went in the TARDIS.

Ed came back out.

He went in again.

And out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

"...What. The. Hell?!"

"I TOLD you it was bigger on the inside. Time-travelling alien."

"THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"

Meanwhile, Al decided to go see for himself.

"TIME-TRAVELLING ALIEN. MULTIDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL."

It all made sense in Kestrel's head.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT, I WANT TO KNOW HOW IT'S BIGGER ON THE INSIDE!"

"ASK THE DUMBASS!"

"FINE!"

Ed angrily stomped his way inside the TARDIS. Kestrel glared. It all made sense to her.

Aravis was nauseous. Not surprisingly, Al and The Doctor were having a very interesting conversation about cats.

Kestrel kicked the TARDIS. The Doctor stuck his head out the door.

"Oi! Be gentle with the TARDIS!"

"NO!"

She kicked it harder.

"OH, THAT'S IT! I AM LEAVING YOU HERE!" He slammed the door again.

"LEAVING ME WHERE!?"

He ignored her and started pressing buttons and pulling levers. Ed and Al were very confused.

"FINE! I'LL JUST..."

_...go home?_

"...I'm sorry..."

The Doctor continued ignoring her.

"...I'm really sorry..." She sounded like she was about to cry.

The Doctor sighed and opened the door.

"You can come back ONLY IF you apologize for punching me and kicking the TARDIS, and promise not to do bad things. And don't ever hurt the TARDIS. EVER."

"...I'm sorry. I promise." She was lying through her teeth... but any chance to get out, she'd take.

"...I don't believe you."

"...Please!"

"..Fine."

So the five of them stood in the TARDIS. They looked rather mismatched, to say the least. Kestrel was a tall, muscular girl with somewhat tanned skin, dark black hair and bright blue eyes. Not particularly pretty, especially with her large nose, but not hideous either. She wore a white cotton shirt, a black leather vest, jeans, and a pair of leather boots.

A stark contrast to Kestrel's looks, Edward was a very short boy with fair, slightly tanned skin, long, golden hair tied back in a braid with one little hair sticking up, and eyes of the same color. He wore a black shirt with white trim, open in the front with a silver buckle, and a black undershirt. He had black pants with a thick brown belt and a silver watch chain, as well as black leather boots with thick red soles. On top of it all, he wore a bright red cloth jacket with a cross-like symbol on the back. On his hands were a pair of white silk gloves.

Aravis was also short, though not quite as much as Ed, with dark skin, dark brown eyes, and the sort of long curly dark hair that is an absolute nightmare to manage. She wore a light blue top with floaty, transparent sleeves, blue leggings, and light blue skirt that was open on the side. She also wore matching blue sandals.

The youngest, Alphonse, was arguably the strangest-looking of all. He appeared (Although as anyone who knew him understood, his appearance was deceiving) to be a tall robot or armor-like being, about 6 feet tall. He was a greyish-blue color, with a triangular chest plate and metal spikes located in various places on his body, usually in groups of three. He had a single conical spike on his forehead, and a long hair-like tassle on the top of his head. But the strangest part of all was his eyes; two glowing white orbs with a pinkish-red color around the edges. He also wore a light blue cloth apron and a leather pocket strapped to his leg.

All four of them (Minus Kestrel) were very confused.


End file.
